Re-votes in Florida and Michigan are in limbo because the Clinton and Obama campaigns are unable to agree to the terms of new primaries.
First, in Florida it’s looking like there won’t be any re-vote at all:
As the Florida Democratic Party gets ready to decide Monday whether to pull the plug on a long-shot bid to restage the state’s presidential primary by mail, it faces a larger question: Is there a Plan B?
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Florida Sen. Bill Nelson, a Clinton ally who backs voting by mail but acknowledges its lack of popularity, has floated a second compromise: Strip Florida of half its delegates and assign the remaining ones to the two candidates based on the Jan. 29 presidential primary, which favored Clinton. A spokesman for Nelson said the idea has morphed into giving each of Florida’s delegates a half vote.
But over the weekend Clinton’s campaign tossed cold water on the proposal, which would cut her delegate haul in half.
”The 2.5 million people [in Michigan and Florida] who voted deserve to be counted,” Clinton said Saturday, signaling her support for a re-do in Michigan, which like Florida violated national party rules by holding an early primary. “If it were my preference, we’d count their votes, but if not, then they should have the opportunity to have a full-fledged primary waged for them and revote.”
Clinton spokesman Phil Singer has told reporters that the campaign believes in the ”bedrock principle” of one person, one vote.
But the Obama camp doesn’t agree:
As Clinton’s camp calls for counting the January results, Obama’s campaign has rejected them, arguing that the contests in Florida and Michigan were invalid because both candidates had agreed not to campaign in the two renegade states. Obama’s name wasn’t even on the Michigan ballot.
”The rules are the rules. Michigan and Florida both knew they wouldn’t be seated if they moved their primaries up,” former New Jersey Sen. Bill Bradley, an Obama supporter, said Sunday on Meet the Press.
”If we want to make sure that Michigan and Florida are seated,” he added, ”make it a 50/50 division” of delegates.
The Florida Democratic Party apparently has set the today as the deadline to determine if there will be a re-vote. Absent a last minute miracle, it’s not looking promising.
In Michigan meanwhile, the deal that was reached last week is held up in the state legislature:
State Senate Democratic Leader Mark Schauer of Battle Creek said he expected to see some bill language late today or Monday.
But he said legislative leaders aren’t likely to spend a lot of time on details unless they get a nod from the Obama camp.
“Now that Clinton has come out in support of the second primary, we need to hear from the Obama campaign that they’re supportive. Otherwise, our efforts are a waste of time,” said Schauer, who has endorsed Clinton.
“If that’s the case (Obama agrees), we could have serious discussions on bill language,” Schauer added.
He said if the Obama campaign signs off and funding to pay for the election is secured, “then we have a good shot at making this happen. We’d have the two campaigns here for weeks. It could be like Iowa or New Hampshire in Michigan.
“We need to get all the appropriate legal people at the table to do this right and we have this week to do it.”
Why this week ? Because the House goes on break right before Easter and would not be back in time to vote on a primary that would take place any time before July.
